


Lost Love, New Bonds

by StevetheIcecube



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Bonding, Friendship, Gen, pre-game, spoilers for chapter 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-23 01:03:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13776393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StevetheIcecube/pseuds/StevetheIcecube
Summary: “Did you love her?” Mikhail’s voice rang through the lower deck of the Marscanes.“What?” Both of them were obviously avoiding looking at the block of ice in the room with them. Jin knew exactly who he was referring to, of course, but he was half hoping Mik would drop the question entirely.“Lora,” he said. “Did you love her?”-Mikhail has questions for Jin.





	Lost Love, New Bonds

“Did you love her?” Mikhail’s voice rang through the lower deck of the Marscanes.

“What?” Both of them were obviously avoiding looking at the block of ice in the room with them. Jin knew exactly who he was referring to, of course, but he was half hoping Mik would drop the question entirely.

“Lora,” he said. “Did you love her?”

Jin glanced at the block of ice. He couldn’t see her face from here. “How do you mean?” If he evaded the question enough, maybe Mikhail would let it go.

“You know, like...argh, I don’t know how to put it. Were you together? A couple? I didn’t know you that well when I was a kid, but you were always at her side.”

“Not in the way you’re thinking,” he said. “We were always together, yes, but our relationship hadn’t changed hugely since she was a child. I met her when she was barely older than how old you were when I met you.”

“How did she swing the sword if she was only so high?” Mikhail asked. Jin just smiled. He hadn’t even let her do more than touch the hilt until she was much older. The sword was too long, for one, and far too heavy.

“She didn’t,” he said, and the smile faded. Honestly, he’d never given her enough practise to get really good at it. Maybe if he had, things could have been different. “But to answer your question, we were very close. We spent a lot of time together, and I protected her through...through much of her life.”

“But would you say you loved her?” He asked. “Not romantically, that is. Just...did you love her as a friend or a companion or something.”

“Yes,” he said. That question required no thought, no hesitation. “I loved and trusted her in a way I never imagined when I was awakened. It was a long time ago, but back then I saw her as a person to serve. As she grew by my side, we became inseparable. So yes, I loved her.”

“Did you ever tell her?” Now Jin could see where this was going. Those shared glances, the shy looks, the bravado in Mik’s words, hoping she’d be impressed. Of course he loved her. Mik fell so easily; she’d only been here a handful of weeks.

“I never told her I loved her,” he said. “I didn’t need to. There’s more than one way to show that kind of devotion to a person. If she needed protecting, I protected her, and when she didn’t need protection, I was there for her anyway.”

“What if the person I love doesn’t like me?” He asked, as if Jin didn’t already know who he was talking about.

“Patroka needs time, Mik,” he said. Mikhail gave him a look as if to say ‘why did you say it out loud’, and he just smiled at him in response. “You’ve had a pretty long time to come to terms with whatever you see your life as now. You’re, what, three hundred years old now, give or take? She has no idea what’s going on. She’s been thrust into something unfamiliar and she’s lost almost everything in the process. Don’t push yourself on her.”

“Alright, okay,” he said. “You’re gonna make me feel bad, saying it like that. I get that it’s hard, I just want to help her, y’know?”

“Endlessly flirting with her probably isn’t going to do that,” he said. “She’s known Akhos for most of her life and she’s still not keen on him. The things that have happened to the pair of them? They’ve chosen not to share it because it hurts, and it hurts deeply. But with time, wounds heal, people get perspective on their suffering, and they’re able to talk about it and sometimes move on.”

He hadn’t managed to move on himself. He didn’t think he’d ever move on. The whole reason all of them were here was because of atrocities in their pasts they needed to get revenge for, or needed to react to. He’d found something new to do with his painfully extended life, but he hadn’t exactly moved on.

“I guess you’re right,” he said. “I’m not gonna ask her to talk about it or anything, though.” Mikhail had never told Jin nor Malos what had happened to him to lead him to Torna, but Jin knew it had something to do with Indol. Indol had done to Mikhail whatever had left him with a core crystal but no blade, and then they had tried to kill him for what they had done in the first place.

“Good,” he said. “Forcing people to relive times they don’t want to think about isn’t the best way to endear yourself to them.”

“Ah...sorry,” Mikhail said, rubbing the back of his head with his left hand. At least he was aware enough that what he’d been asking was a little too intrusive. “I guess I was curious, sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “Look at it this way; you didn’t ask Malos, which means you’re still alive.”

Mik chuckled. “That’s true. I may be insensitive but I’m not stupid enough to ask Malos if he was in love with Amalthus.”

Even the thought of someone asking Malos that made Jin laugh with him. The reaction to a question like that would be priceless, particularly seeing as Jin didn’t think anyone loved Amalthus. People respected him, feared him, perhaps even admired him, but no one loved him. “Malos doesn’t really have ties like that to his driver in the way normal blades do.”

“We’ve made our own ties here,” Mikhail said. Jin could only nod in response. He didn’t really understand exactly what kind of ties he was making with these people - it was nothing like what he had shared with Lora, but it was something else entirely. Something independent of the constant awareness of her existence, the need to protect her no matter what. Whatever these ties were, they had a different kind of strength. Strength through shared experiences, comradeship… Jin was almost glad that he had lived on and been able to create these ties. He certainly didn’t have any intention of letting this all go any time soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :) If you enjoyed this, a comment would be appreciated. Maybe we can share Emotions about Torna.


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